Philip Kelland PRSE FRS (17 October 1808 – 8 May 1879) was an English

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. He was known mainly for his great influence on the development of

education in Scotland Education in Scotland is overseen by the Scottish Government and its executive agency Education Scotland. Education in Scotland has a history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly diffe ...

Life

Kelland was born in 1808 the son of Philip Kelland (d.1847), curate in Dunster, Somerset, England. He was educated at

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. ...

, and an undergraduate at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, where he was tutored privately by English mathematician

William Hopkins William Hopkins FRS (2 February 179313 October 1866) was an English mathematician and geologist. He is famous as a private tutor of aspiring undergraduate Cambridge mathematicians, earning him the ''sobriquet'' the " senior-wrangler maker." ...

and graduated in 1834 as senior wrangler and first Smith's prizeman. He was ordained in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

. From 1834 to 1838, he was a fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge. Kelland was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

in 1838 and

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This socie ...

in 1839. He served as Secretary of the RSE 1843-4, Vice-President 1857–77 and President 1878-9. He won their

Keith Medal The Keith Medal was a prize awarded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy, for a scientific paper published in the society's scientific journals, preference being given to a paper containing a discovery, either in mathe ...

for the period 1849–51. He lived his final years at 20 Clarendon Crescent in western

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Kelland is buried in Warriston Cemetery in the north of the city.

Academic career

Kelland was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

in 1838. He was a successor to Scottish mathematician

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...

. He became the first English-born and wholly English-educated mathematician to hold that chair. Kelland joined with Scottish physicist

James David Forbes James David Forbes (1809–1868) was a Scottish physicist and glaciologist who worked extensively on the conduction of heat and seismology. Forbes was a resident of Edinburgh for most of his life, educated at its University and a professor ...

in supporting reforms of the Scottish university system. He was an efficient education reformer. He won the respect of his colleagues, and was regarded highly as a mathematics instructor. He wrote on the reform of the Scottish universities.

Research

Kelland's early research work, undertaken at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, was influenced by mathematicians

Joseph Fourier Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier (; ; 21 March 1768 – 16 May 1830) was a French mathematician and physicist born in Auxerre and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series, which eventually developed into Fourier analysis and ha ...

and

Augustin Louis Cauchy Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy (, ; ; 21 August 178923 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist who made pioneering contributions to several branches of mathematics, including mathematical analysis and continuum mechanics. He w ...

. This research is described in his ''Theory of Heat'' (1837, 1842) and in some papers. However, this proved not to be based on sound principles. In all, 28 papers published by Kelland, mainly on heat, light and water waves, are listed in the ''Royal Society Catalogue of Scientific Papers''. His theoretical work on water waves (1840, 1844), published in ''Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh'', tried to explain aspects of the important experiments of

John Scott Russell John Scott Russell FRSE FRS FRSA (9 May 1808, Parkhead, Glasgow – 8 June 1882, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) was a Scottish civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder who built '' Great Eastern'' in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brune ...

, then being carried out near

. Although this work was flawed in some respects, it anticipated some of the results later obtained by

George Biddell Airy Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the E ...

and

George Gabriel Stokes Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, (; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Irish English physicist and mathematician. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent all of his career at the University of Cambridge, where he was the Luc ...

. Kelland wrote analytical papers on General Differentiation in 1839, and Differential Equations in 1853. He gave a geometrical ''Theory of Parallels'' outlining a version of

non-Euclidean geometry In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry consists of two geometries based on axioms closely related to those that specify Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean g ...

. He wrote mathematics books and edited works of mathematician

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

and

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

Thomas Young.

Family

He married twice: firstly to "Miss Pilkington" secondly to Miss Boswall of Wardie.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelland, Philip 1808 births 1879 deaths 19th-century English mathematicians People educated at Sherborne School Academics of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Senior Wranglers Burials at Warriston Cemetery Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge

Life

Academic career

Research

Family

See also

References